Revelation 17:4
2 The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”
3 And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.
The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.
5 And on her forehead a mysterious name was written: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6 I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.
- KJV
- And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
- WEB
- The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of the sexual immorality of the earth.
- ASV
- And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication,
- DARBY
- And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and had ornaments of gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and the unclean things of her fornication;
- BLB
- And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand, being full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.
- ÅB
- Og kvinnen var kledd i purpur og skarlagen og lyste av gull og edelsteiner og perler; hun hadde et gullbeger i sin hånd, fullt av styggheter og av hennes horelevnets urenheter,
- OTB
- Kvinnen var kledd i purpur og skarlagen, og smykket med gull, edelstener og perler. Hun hadde en gullkopp i hånden, fylt med styggedommer og urenheten fra hennes horeliv.
- B1930
- Og kvinnen var klædd i purpur og skarlagen og lyste av gull og edelstener og perler; hun hadde et gullbeger i sin hånd, fullt av styggheter og av hennes horelevnets urenheter,
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Jeremiah 51:7
Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
Read in contextRevelation 18:16
saying: “Woe, woe to the great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!
Read in contextRevelation 19:2
For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her hand.”
Read in contextRevelation 18:12
cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; of all kinds of citron wood and every article of ivory, precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;
Read in context2 Thessalonians 2:3–10
Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.
Read in contextLamentations 1:9
Her uncleanness stains her skirts; she did not consider her end. Her downfall was astounding; there was no one to comfort her. Look, O LORD, on my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!
Read in contextDaniel 11:38
And in their place, he will honor a god of fortresses—a god his fathers did not know—with gold, silver, precious stones, and riches.
Read in contextRevelation 18:6–7
Give back to her as she has done to others; pay her back double for what she has done; mix her a double portion in her own cup.
Read in context